And here's the first chapter! Actually, it's a fusion of the four first chapters (like all the chapters which will be posted, since my original ones were about 1000 words only but I had like 54 of them...), hence the oOo when there is a "change of scenery". I hope the characters don't act too OOC, but I guess they probably will at some point... The risk of writing about an anime you watched almost five years ago, I guess ^^" No really, I re-watched some eps from the first season and it's funny to see Netto and Rockman actually matured at least a bit (and Enzan back then! I see why I couldn't stand him at first!) when you have seen a few eps from Beast just before.

As usual, tell me if you see mistakes, have some pieces of advice, or anything really :)

Anyway, the chapter's right below!

1.

Premises of a war

After all the events which had happened for the past two years, a deserved peace was eventually back in Densan. For the first time in too long, more than five months had passed without any worldwide threat on their shoulders. Of course, both Netto and Rockman should have been happy—and they were! However, life felt… too calm. In fact, they were not used to have a daily routine like everyone else anymore. Waking up, going to school, doing Netto's homework, taking care of the rare cybercrimes which still happened when nobody else could… It was all so dull. They needed something exciting!

Closing the tab displaying the homework he could not bring himself to do, Netto let the now useless synchro chip slip through his fingers. With a sharp yet almost inaudible sound, the cartridge fell on the desk as the child sighed. He had turned thirteen three months ago, and it only made him feel like if his life had been boring like this forever.

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'Netto, you still have virus‑busting homework,' Rockman said, although he had taken several minutes before even realising his operator had stopped working since himself wasn't paying attention either.

'I don't even get how they can give us homework… Virus‑busting is not about paper exams!'—Netto reluctantly reopened the tab while saying so—'On top of that, it's not like if we didn't know that already!'

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This, Rockman couldn't deny. Almost everyone in their class knew the basis of virus-busting, but they still had to take it. The fact that they had fought again evil organizations willing to kill them both at some point definitely added to the boredness of the class… Actually, since Meiru herself thought it was useless, Netto would probably be fine for not returning his homework in time, but you never know. Or he might not be. Since his teacher had understood he was the son of one of the most recognized Japanese scientist in matter of cybersciences, he had been expecting a lot from him and had not been disappointed by his skills: such an attitude would not be appreciated. Then again, it was definitely too time consuming for what it was and they could prove everyone they knew their way around net battles with ease.

In the silence of the room, the alarm of the PET rang before Rockman picked it up, not expecting anything more than a cybercrime, only to be surprised by Meijin's face.

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'Netto, Rockman, we need you to come to Scilab as soon as possible.'

'Why, mister Meijin?' Netto asked, excited by the potential action.

'No need to be so formal.' Meijin seemed to look at another screen, or at someone, before giving them a quick explanation. 'Anyway, the last cases of cybercrimes seems to be linked together. We think something might be happening.'

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Little did they know that, merely a week later, they would end up investigating about missing navis turned into criminals in the undernet instead of spacing out in class. The work was stressful since, for what they knew, any kind of damage done to Rockman's frame could lead to his infection by what Meijin had started to call the maverick virus, but it was more than necessary. In the real world, Netto was more focused than on any other missions he and Enzan had shared in the past few months—which weren't abundant—and the dual haired teenager knew better than teasing him at the time. So far, their navis had encountered nothing more than regular viruses, but they knew it would probably not stay this way. With professor Hikari gone who knew where for the past days, the analysis of the data obtained by the netpolice had been slowed down. Actually, everyone knew where he was—he had gone to visit the doctor Cossak, and old friend of his—but nobody could figure out why he had left in such a hurry when a new kind of virus made to infect netnavis was spreading through the net.

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While scanning some of the newly obtained data, Meijin couldn't stop thinking of the strange conversations he had had with the missing scientist. He knew he was hiding something, though all the hints he had caught had led him nowhere. It was like a treasure hunt, except that the young scientist wasn't sure he truly wanted to discover what the treasure was… Somehow, it felt like the professor wanted him to find out but couldn't bring himself to tell him. The only clear thing he had voiced was that, whatever he discovered, he couldn't let anyone else know about it. It had made him curious, and it probably was what professor Hikari had aimed for, but the more he thought about it, the more… creepy it was.

For the time being, Meijin was sure of three things: Netto had a twin who seemed to be dead, his father used to work on a way to create the perfect navi using human DNA, and Rockman was probably the closest thing he had ever programmed to that ideal navi. Logic wanted him to conclude that professor Hikari would never have used the DNA of one of his own sons to program Rockman as it would have led him to jail without a doubt, but then again he wasn't sure of what was logical for the professor; after all, he had let his son risk his life multiple times. Of course, Meijin knew Netto would have probably been in danger anyway: his family, Rockman's potential, and his inner talent to get in trouble would probably have made this unavoidable. Still, the thought of Rockman being Netto's digital copy made him sick. Even if the navi shared a striking resemblance with his operator, it was incredibly disturbing to think professor Hikari, whom he truly respected, had done something like this. Worse was the thought that the twins might have looked truly alike, or even were identical twins, and that Rockman was the copy of the deceased one. However, something simply didn't make sense. Either Netto's twin had died before his brother could even remember him, or the child had forbidden himself to ever mention his existence; in both cases, it felt wrong and Meijin would have to confront the other scientist with it once he came back.

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'Rockman! Plug out!'

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Or he might be confronted to the facts himself before.

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Immediately, both Rockman and Blues were placed separately in quarantine. Meijin quickly catched up on the situation, learning that the navis had been attacked by infected ones while he was lost in his thoughts. If Blues was relatively unharmed, Rockman had suffer more damages by interposing between the infected navi and his friend. With the absence of professor Hikari, Meijin was the one in charge of the two navis and, trying to ignore the disturbing thoughts which refused to leave him, decided to fix their frames first. If they had been infected, trying to get rid of the virus while they were damaged would make them risk deletion and it was something which had to be avoided by all costs.

An hour later, Blues's frame had been fixed and Meijin meticulously examined his code to detect the virus which might have been hiding between the lines since he couldn't exactly know what he was looking for. Almost two hours and twice as many coffee later, Meijin was glad to tell Enzan his navi was in perfect shape. Indeed, for all the time the repairs had lasted, the two young operators had refused to leave their navis' sides although all the other scientists had left the room used for the aforesaid repairs. Almost half an hour after Blues was left out of quarantine, the computer indicated Rockman's frame had been fixed with a ticking noise. With a sigh, Meijin prepared himself for the look he would have to take to the blue navi's program. Look he hoped would not reveal that Rockman was what he was starting to think he probably was… As he pressed enter to display the lines of code he had yet to check, a message of error flashed up on the screen.

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ERROR

PROGRAM DAMAGED BY UNKNOWN

EMERGENCY

CORE PROGRAM THREATENED BY UNKNOWN

ACTIVATION OF

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Meijin couldn't see the look in Netto's eyes as he was too disconcerted by what was happening. The computer completely froze as the program —or whatever it actually was—executed, its screen displaying what he knew was the proof Rockman had been infected. When the computer eventually started to respond, a new message appeared.

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PROGRAM DELETED

UNKNOWN DELETED

CORE PROGRAM RESTORED

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Whatever professor Hikari had left for, he had better be back soon.

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oOo

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If it wasn't for the fact the computer indicated him that there was still something in quarantine, Meijin would have lost it when he saw that Rockman's program had been deleted. He didn't care about Netto and Enzan behind him, he had to see what had happened. With a quick manipulation, he opened the code of what was left inside the quarantine and read it. No stain that there was once another program hiding the one he was analysing was visible, and he perfectly knew this so‑called core program wasn't the one of a netnavi. No wonder Rockman couldn't be rebuilt from backup files with that thing inside him! Hopefully, professor Hikari had a particularly clear way to write codes, which let Meijin understand the basis of this one with a quick glance. Of course, he had never asked the name of Netto's twin, but he didn't need it to know Rockman's core program was mainly DNA coded. However, amid the enormous amount of DNA data, there were some he couldn't understand; some which differed from anything he had seen up until then. Not willing to see more of what was becoming an awfully twisted reality, Meijin closed the window without thinking about it twice. Either professor Hikari had quite an incredible explanation, or he had completely lost his mind at some point.

Without even looking at the two boys behind him and silently blessing the fact they had been too shocked to ask him answers, Meijin stood up and left the room.

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'I'll call professor Hikari.'

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Left alone with Netto, Enzan took some seconds to pay attention to his reaction. Much to his surprise, the expression he was wearing wasn't one of fear or confusion; no, Netto was fully aware his navi was fine. Meijin hadn't say anything, yet he was sure Rockman was alright. He had to be. Of course, Ezan could tell there was still some concern in Netto's eyes, but it wasn't enough to be called fear. Instead, Netto looked shocked by something else, as if a hint Enzan had missed had reminded him of a thing which should have never been seen there. None of them could see what it looked like inside the quarantine, security protocols would not allow it, but they both knew it held some of the answers. For a moment, Netto thought about letting Rockman go back to the net, although he knew it was probably the last thing to do. The young netsavior had learned some things about computing on his own, and could tell the difference between a regular navi's program and the core program of Rockman. He had seen the DNA factor in the lines of code Meijin had displayed, alongside with the name which had been used to code the program.

Saito. It couldn't be a coincidence.

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When it came to custom navis, most of the human‑like ones were based on their operator. It was probably why he had never truly paid attention to the fact that Rockman was so similar to him—too similar, even. They had known each other for years, and he had seen how his father had progressively built his navi by constantly upgrading a more basic version. The first time he had seen the one who would later become Rockman, the little navi couldn't even use a default weapon and was completely vulnerable. Many upgrades had been needed only to make him able to use all battle chips, and from that Netto had understood that his father was creating a different kind of navi. However, when Rockman had eventually been given to him, his father had carefully rebooted him so he would not remember the long way to his own creation. But now? Netto was sure Rockman hadn't been based on him, for he was based on his brother. The young netsavior wondered if his father had tried to replace him with Rockman for a second, before quickly banishing the thought out of his mind: Rockman was Rockman, and that was it.

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oOo

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Professor Hikari came back as soon as he could, that was saying he was running through SciLab's corridors less than three hours after Meijin's call. He had let the success of his secret project in the hands of the doctor Cossak, hoping he would be able to solve the problem before it was too late. As much as he wanted to finish it, making sure Rockman was alright was more important. Meijin had assured him the core program was stable, but he needed to check himself. If it had been damaged even a little… He could only hope only the DNA data would be affected, as they were the only ones he would be able to fix.

The scientist was more than worried, as all his plans had been disrupted and he wasn't ready for such a thing. Meijin was supposed to catch the hints, then question him, and he would have been able to finally share the secret of both projects; what had happened had completely ruined the scenario! And Netto… His son hadn't given sign of life for the past hours. Of course, he knew he was with Meijin and Enzan, but none of them had been able to get a word from him. It was extremely rare for the boy to act like this, and the last time he had done it was… No, he couldn't have made the link. What was he thinking then? If he had seen the restoration of Rockman's core program—and he had—Netto knew of the link with his brother. The only problem was that he had probably conclude something which wasn't true… The professor knew he had all the proofs needed to be believed, but it wasn't being believed which he was afraid of: it was being understood.

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He had insisted on Rockman being left in sleep mode, as he knew that, even without the possibility of his core program being damaged, he would finally have access to all the memories of before being given to Netto if he woke up. Besides, he wanted to spare him a questioning on who and what he truly was. Eventually reaching the room where they were all waiting for him, the professor took a deep breath: he wasn't the scientist who had created one of the most powerful netnavi in the world anymore, he was a father who had wanted to save his child.

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The door opened, letting his eyes briefly catch the glare of his son before Yuuichiro decided it was better to address Meijin first. However, the young scientist had left his seat as soon as he had heard him coming in, and barely looked at him when he told him that he could check the core program himself if he wanted to be sure it was intact. Immediately, Yuuichiro used the software he had stored on a nano SD card secretly kept with him for years. The scan was fast, as it knew exactly what it was looking for, and returned results within two minutes: the core program was perfectly functional. With a sigh of relief, Yuuichiro turned around to finally face the three other people in the room. They were looking at him, waiting for an explanation, for something which would make sense. He didn't know what Enzan had understood, but he was sure Meijin and Netto were waiting an explanation concerning his elder son, concerning the link between Rockman and Saito.

And Yuuichiro didn't know how to explain there was no real link, for they were one and the same.

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'Netto?' His son didn't respond, but he knew he had to tell him one way or another. 'Before I take Rockman out of quarantine, there is something you need to know.' He took a second to breath, checking if Enzan and Meijin were listening too. 'Fine… Fifteen years ago, SciLab started to work on a new kind of navi, one that would be able to take complex decisions in order to adapt. Two teams worked on this project simultaneously, both exploring their own theory. The first team was led by the doctor Cossak, I don't know if you remember him. His version of the project aimed to create a navi holding an ultimate program which let him be his own master, but the government eventually decided such a navi was too dangerous to exist and forced the doctor Cossak to delete him. Officially, he did it. However, he actually found a way to save him although the aforesaid navi thought he had betrayed him. This navi, you now know him as Forte, and he was the only one ever created before the project was abandoned.' He made a pause, knowing he was getting to the sensible part. 'I was leading the second team, exploring a completely different way of creating a more adaptive navi. I wanted to create one which could truly befriend its operator, it would have been a revolution. But… A program is only a program. Though I could make a navi follow its operator's orders, I couldn't make one think and act on its own. So I started to think that the answer might as well be in our DNA. However, I could only make about 95% of the program; DNA wasn't enough. I was missing something, and I couldn't figure out what. But a few months after the incident with the first team, the project was cancelled.' Yuuichiro stopped his story for a few second, trying to think of the best way to approach the end of it. 'At the time, I already had you and your brother, and… Saito was showing signs something was wrong with him. We took you both to see a doctor, just in case. You were in perfect health, but he… We were told it would be a miracle if he lived past six. Since there was no treatment for HBD, we knew Saito would never be able to grow up with you. And we… I… couldn't accept that. So, with the help of Mikhail—the doctor Cossak—I resumed the navi project.'

'You used Saito's DNA to create Rockman, right?' Meijin asked, already knowing the answer.

'Not exactly. Using only the DNA wouldn't have saved him, it would only have created a digital copy.' Yuuichiro risked a look in Netto's direction, and saw his son had understood what he meant. 'Although I used his DNA to created the frame of the core program, I needed something else to really save your brother. I was out of time, and the HBD attacks were becoming more and more frequent... That's when Mikhail suggested to use Pulse transmission. I told your mother, I wanted her to know before I started this… completely mad experiment. It was extremely risky, but using Pulse Transmission, we could send your brother to the Cyberworld. We registered his brain waves, using them to make a perfect copy. Once we were done, we used the DNA coded frame to trap him there and cut the link his consciousness had with his body. Once we managed to stabilize him, I started to create a navi frame to cover the DNA one. It took years, and it was harder than I would have ever thought, but I managed to do it. The navi frame… it was Rockman's program.'

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oOo

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His brother was alive. He had been with him all along. And he hadn't seen a thing. Rockman was his twin and Netto hadn't suspect anything! And his parents knew it! They had let him think Saito was dead, when they perfectly knew he wasn't!

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'He did it to protect you. To protect… us.'

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The soft voice of his brother pull him out of his thoughts, but it didn't calm his anger. To protect them? You don't erase people's existence to protect them!

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'He forbade me to ever mention you to anyone!' Netto almost yelled while taking his PET. 'That's not fair!'

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It wasn't, indeed. Their father probably had a reason, he had to believe it. The thought of being his own ghost sent him shivers, but he knew he was alive. The memories were back, and they felt as if they belonged to a stranger at first… However, they were his. He had agreed with his father to make them inaccessible while the rockman program was on so he wouldn't have to hide anything from Netto. He had chosen to forget who he was instead of simply lying. Of course, it would have only been for five years as their father had decided to tell Netto the truth once he would be fifteen, but Saito couldn't really understand his own decision. How had he come to think it would be better that way? Had he really been so afraid of being incapable of keeping it for himself for five years? Probably… Five years seems to be an eternity when you are only ten years old. Yet, he had imagined this moment so many times! He had been so sure his brother would have been thrilled to see him alive! And now… It just felt wrong.

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The rockman program had been destroyed in order to protect him from the maverick virus, and all had been explained when nobody was ready. Not only was he stuck in the PET, but he was also stuck on the wrong side of the mirror. For the thousand time since he had woken up in the cyberworld seven years ago, he cursed the screen between him and his family. And Roll? Would she reject him if she ever came to know? After all, he wasn't a navi like her… Rockman was a lie. No, she was too nice. But… Would she believe him if he tried to tell her?

A signal in the PET informed him their father was trying to call them, which Netto had noticed too but completely ignored. Saito took note his brother wasn't willing to talk, but decided to pick up anyway. Because one of them didn't want to see their father didn't mean both had to be left without answers! Instead of appearing on the PET's screen, the window opened in the cyberworld as Saito was decided to understand why he had to be forgotten in the real world. Yuuichiro looked at him with surprised when he saw only one of the twins, but didn't ask why when he understood that even Saito was reluctant to talk to him.

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'Ah, Saito… I have retrieved the backup frame from one of the earlier version of the rockman program and it's ready to be used. I can't send it in an email, it's too heavy, so I'll give it to you once I see you. Also... I'm sorry but I'll have to rebuild the last version since the backup was already used two years ago and I couldn't recreate one without deactivating the program, so it will take some time. I already have a lot of cache data here, but I'd like Netto to bring your PET so I could get the ones in there too, that way I should be done in less than a month.' Yuuichiro paused, expecting an "okay" which never came as Saito only waited for him to say what he had to say. 'Listen… I know you were expecting things to be different, but what is done is done.' He looked at his son with surprise when he saw him pull a window to cut the sound coming out from his PET. 'Saito?'

'Why did you forbid Netto to talk of me?' The child had eventually decided to ask for the answers he wanted, to voice what sounded more like an accusation than a question. 'Why did you make everyone forget I was even there?!'

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Yuuichiro looked at him without knowing what to answer. It was just like Forte… He had done all he could to save his son, and now he felt more betrayed than ever because he didn't tell him everything. It was the reason he wanted to wait for the other project to be completed before revealing the truth, for it held the answer to why people should forget Saito instead of knowing he had died.

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'I couldn't let them know you were dead.' His voice broke, as he remembered how hard it had been to erase his son's death to prepare the day he would have finally succeeded in completely saving him.

'Why?'

'Because you're not. People are not ready for you, they can't know yet.' Yuuichiro did his best not to mention the exact truth. 'If I wanted to save you, I couldn't let people know you had died in the first place. If I wanted you to be able to come back into this world one day, I had to make sure nobody would even know you had left it at some point.'

See ya next week!

PS: maybe I'll write some OS taking place in this story-verse, I have some ideas... I had scenes which didn't make it to the final version which I like a lot (but they didn't fit well, so I decided not to include them T.T), or even some which took place during some eps of the anime or between the eps (yep, I had flash-backs in the summary. Yep, they all stayed in the "maybe one day" box)